Machine for



lV. lil. HEPBURN AND Gr. K.-PE TERSON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFGRNIA.-

' MAcHiNE FORTGRINDING AND 'AMALGAMATING GOLD AND SILVER. y

Specieation forming part of Letters Patent No. 2,3'3", datedApri-I'IH, 1864."

To all whom it may concern: l I

Beit known that we, W. H. HnrBUrtN and G. K. PETERSON, of San Francisco, in the tollnty of San Francisco and State of Galiiornia, have invented a new and Improved Gold and Silver Amalgainator; and we do hereby declare that the ffollowing is a full, clear, and exact vdescription of the same, reference being' had'to the accompanying drawings, `inahing a -part ot this speciiicatio'n, in whichf Figure 1 is a vert-ical central section of our invention; Fig. 2, a. bottom view of the inuller; Fig. 3, a.v plan or top view otthesame'; Fig. 4, a detached perspective view `ot` the'joint or connection between the muller and the driving mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists i'n the employment or use cfa pan provided with a conical bottoni and a muller, which is Vin the formof a conical shell, and provided at its upper surface with spiral ribs or ilanges, and at its under surface with shoes, so disposed and arl'anget'l as to form spiral grooves, all'being so constructed and arranged to .operate in such a mannerthat all the pulp orpulverized ore will be brought in contact with the Quicksilver in the pan, and all the particles of gold perfectly amalgamated.

To enable those skilled in the art toi'ully understand and construct our invention, we will proceed to describe it. v 1

Areprescnts a frame, on which a pan, B, is placed, having a conical bottoni a on the up per surface ot which iron plates b are bolted or secured in such a manner that they may be;

removed at any time when worn by'use andreplaced by new ones.

C represents an upright tube,wh1ch is connected centrally with the bottom a 'ot'. the

pa-n, and projects upward a suitable distance.

Through this tube C a vertical sham/Dj,- passes, the lower end of saidshaft beingA stepped ina bar, c, of a frame secured to the' inner side of the pan B, and having a bevel-- wheel, E, upon it, which gears into a pinion,` F, on a horizont-al dri vin g-shatt, G. The shaft D extends a considerable distance above the npperend cf the tube C, and it is square for a schort distance, as shown at d, and cylin-V drical the remaining distance, as shownat d', but smaller in diameter, so as to form a shoulder, e, on the shaft D, as shown plainly in Fig. 1. y

H represents a muller, which is in the form of a conical shell, the taperorinclination of which corresponds with that ot' the bottom a, as shown infyhiig l. rl`his muller has an upright hol-lowlrn'fb '-Latt its center, the upper end ot whichhas` c1 arches f made radially into y it, as shown plai-myin Fig. et, and on the up-v per end ot Jtlie'huxtijllthere is fitted a hollow cylinder, J, the lower end of which is notched like the upper end of I, so that the notches f of` the hub I will receive the projections between the notches at the lower end of J, and the notches at the lowevgend ot J receive the projections g between the notches f of I.

.The upper part ci the; hub I is vprovided with a flange, h, as lsc's the lower part ot' the cylinder J, and through these ilangeslbolts i-pass, as shown in Fig.

the upper end of the tube C when the muller is lowered to its fullest extent, and in the upper end Vof the tube C a square hole, j, is made for the square portion d of the shaft D to pass through. By this means the muller H is rotated from the shaft D.

0n the upper end of the cylinderJ there is secured acylinder, K, in the upfer end of which a thimblepL, is tted and allowed to turn freely, the lower lend fof said thimble being provided with a tlange, k, which is fitted under-a lip, l, at the upper end of the cylinder K. This thimble L is provided with an internal screw, m, into which a tubularscrew, M, is tted,rhaving a hand-wheel, N, upon it,tl1e upper cylindrical part, a, of the shaft G fitting in the tubular. screw M. )Onthe upper end of thethiinble La handwheel`, 0, is, secured.

0n the upper surface-of the muller H there are anumber of spiral anges orribs, mi, which are shown clearly 'in Fig.'A 3, saifd flanges or ribs extendingfrom the periphery of the mullet 4to the, hub I ,wl 1ich has openings n made init.

To. the under sideof'themuller E there'are attached by bolts o a series of shoes, P, of curved form, the'edges'ot' which are beveled, v so as to form obl-iquegrooves@aJ space being allowed between thc shoes in order to forni said grooves. which are ot' curved or spiral form, as shown clearly in Fig. 2.

rlfhe direction of the rotation ot' the muller is indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3.

The operation is as follows: The pulp and quicksilver are placed in .the pau B and the niuller rotated by rotating the shaft G by any convenient power.-` The pulp or ore is made to pass from the periphery of the inuller H toward its center by -means ot' the spiral flanges or ribs mit, the pulp or ore passing through the openings n in the hub I, and then I down through the hub, between the shoes P -on the bottom ot' the mutter and the plates` b on the bottom of the pan, and is forced by the grooves p toward the periphery of the 2 muller, the shoes P being griuiting-surfaces, and causing the pulp or ore and Quicksilver t0 be thoroughly incorporated with each other, so that all particles otA inetal which the pulp or ore contains will be ainalgainated.

The conical form of Athe nuiller and bottom ai of the pan vgives the pulp or ore and the Quicksilver a gravitating,tendency toward the center of the pan and inuller,` thereby counteracting centrifugal force and insuring a regula r l and constant low of the pulp or ore and the I quicksilver toward the-periphery of the muller and back toward its center. By this means the pulp or ore. may be worked over and over with the quicksilver ntil lall the particles ot' metal are amalgamated with the former.

The muller H i's raised and lowered, so as to have its shoes P yrun or work as close to the plates b on the bottoni a as may'be desired,

by turning` either the tuAbular screw M or the thiinble L. When it is desired to raise the niuller, the wheel C) ot' the thimble L, when the muller is ia motion, is held with one hand, f while the wheel N ot the tubular screw M is turnd in the direction in which the. muller is rotated. When itis desired to lower the niuller, the wheel N ot' the thiaible is held with one hand, while the wheel O ofthe tubular screw {Bl is turned in the direction of the rotation of Tl the muller H. Havingthusalesciibed our invention, what lwe claim as new, and desire to secure by Lety ters Patent, is

1. The conical 'bottoni u of the pan B in connection with the conical niuller H, in shell t'orni, arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 2.` The shoes P, provided with curved beveled edges and attached to the under side of the niuller il, so as to forni oblique curved grooves p, in connection with the spiral flanges or ribs mv on the upper side ofthe nmller, as and for the purpose specified. i

3. The arrangement of the hand-wheels O N, thiinble L, and tubular screw M, substantially as described, for raising and lowering,` the niuller, as set'i'orth.

W. H. HEPBURN. GEO. K. PETERSON.

\\'itnesses:

Ww. H. CULYER, Harm; Dix. 

